Biography

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Early
life

Jurgensen was born in Wilmington, North Carolina.
He became active in sports as early as elementary school, when he
led his school to the city grammar school titles in baseball and
basketball.[1]
He later captured the boys tennis championship of Wilmington and pitched
for his local Civitan club, who won the city
baseball title.[1]

Jurgensen also played basketball and baseball during high school. As a senior on
the basketball team, he averaged twelve points per game as a guard
and the team was the state title runner-up.[1]
That same year in baseball, he batted .339 and played as a pitcher,
infielder, and catcher. He also became a switch-hitter.[1]

Jurgensen took over as starting quarterback in 1955. He also
retained a starting position in the defensive secondary. Duke ended
the season with a 7–2–1 record along with an ACC co-championship,
but did not go to a bowl because Maryland received
the league's automatic bid to the Orange Bowl.[1]
That season Jurgensen completed 37 of 69 passes for 536 yards,
three touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed 54 times
for 48 yards, and scored two touchdowns. He also punted four times
for a 33.7 average and intercepted four passes for 17 yards.[1]

Jurgensen's senior season in 1956 did not start well, when Duke
lost to South Carolina, 7-0, in
the season opener. This game marked Duke's first ACC loss, coming
in the fourth year of the conference's existence.[1]
Duke finished the season with a 5-4-1 mark and Jurgensen ended up
28-59 for 371 yards. He threw six interceptions and two touchdown
passes and rushed 25 times for 51 yards with three touchdowns.[1]
Jurgensen's final career stats included 77-156 passes for 1,119
yards, 16 career interceptions and six touchdowns. He also rushed
for 109 yards and intercepted ten passes.[1]

Jurgensen also played baseball briefly at Duke, but turned down
an invitation to try out for the basketball team.[1]

"All I ask of my blockers is four seconds. I try to
stay on my feet and not be forced out of the
pocket. I beat people by throwing, not running.
I won't let them intimidate me into doing
something which is not the best thing I can do."

After Van Brocklin retired in 1961, Jurgensen took over as
Philadelphia's starter and had a successful year, passing for an
NFL record 3,723 yards, tying the NFL record with 32 touchdown
passes, and was named All-Pro.[2]
Following an injury-plagued 1963 season, Jurgensen was traded to
the Washington Redskins on April 1,
1964 in exchange for quarterback Norm Snead and cornerbackClaude Crabb.[4]

Washington
Redskins (1964–1974)

Jurgensen took over play-calling for the Redskins during the 1964
season.[5]
He was then selected to play in the Pro Bowl following the season and was also
named second Team All-Pro.

In 1967,
Jurgensen broke his own record by passing for 3,747 yards and also
set NFL single-season records for attempts (508) and completions
(288).[2]
Unfortunately, he missed much of the 1968 season because of broken ribs and
elbow surgery.[2]

"Jurgensen is a great quarterback. He hangs
in there under adverse conditions. He may
be the best the league has ever seen.
He is the best I have seen."

In 1969,
Vince Lombardi
took over as the Redskins' head coach.[3]
That season, Jurgensen led the NFL in attempts (442), completions
(274), completion percentage (62%) and passing yards (3,102).[2]
The Redskins went 7-5-2 and had their best season since 1955 (which kept
Lombardi's record of never having coached a losing NFL team
intact).[6] Sadly,
Lombardi died of cancer
shortly before the start of the 1970 season.[5]
Jurgensen would later say that, of the nine head coaches he played
for during his NFL career, Lombardi was his favorite.[4]

The Redskins enjoyed a resurgence in the early 1970s under coach
George Allen and made it as far as Super Bowl VII,
losing to the Miami Dolphins. However, Billy Kilmer started
in place of Jurgensen, who was again bothered by injuries in 1971 and 1972.[2]
During this time period, a quarterback controversy developed
between the two, complete with fans sporting "I Love Billy" or "I
Love Sonny" bumper stickers on their vehicles.[5]
The defensive-minded Allen preferred Kilmer's conservative,
ball-control style of play to Jurgensen's more high-risk approach.
Despite the controversy, Jurgensen was helpful to his rival. Even
to this day, Kilmer still stays at Jurgensen's house when he is in
town.[5]

In 1974,
at the age of 40 and in his final season, Jurgensen won his third
NFL passing crown even though he was still splitting time with
Kilmer.[3]
In what would be the final game of his NFL career, Jurgensen made
his first and only appearance in an NFL postseason game in the
Redskins' 19-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of
the 1974 NFC playoffs.[2]
He came off the bench in relief of Kilmer and completed 6 of 12
passes but also threw three interceptions.[2]

In many circles, Jurgensen is recognized as the finest pure
passer of his time. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, he earned three NFL
individual passing titles.[3]
He exceeded 400 yards passing in a single game five times, and
threw five touchdown passes in a game twice. With a career rating
of 82.6, his stats include 2,433 completions for 32,224 yards and
255 touchdowns.[3]
He also rushed for 493 yards and 15 touchdowns.[2]

After
football

Broadcasting
career

After retiring from the Redskins' following the 1974 season,
Jurgensen began another career as a color commentator, initially with CBS television. Later
teaming with Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff, Jurgensen continues to cover the
Washington Redskins on radio. On a 2006 NBC 4 broadcast with George Michael, Jurgensen
said in his prime he was able to throw the ball 80 yards.[4]
He covered the team for NBC 4 from 1994[7] until
December 2008, when Redskins Report was canceled due to
budget cuts.[8] He was
the main analyst with George Michael's serving as a game analyst at
preseason games, studio analyst at training camp, weekly picks,
among other assignments.